About The Crucible Book
The Crucible is a play written by playwright Arthur Miller as an allegory for McCarthyism. McCarthyism is accusing treason and subversion related to communism and socialism. It was written back in 1953. The storyline is a partially fictional drama of the Salem witch trials in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-93.
Arthur Miller wrote this play due to unforeseeable circumstances that he faced. The House of Representatives Committee questioned him on Un-American Activities in 1956, and he was convicted for refusing to identify other persons present in the meeting congress.
Although the play was first performed at Martin Beck Theatre, Arthur Miller thinks that the performance was not up to the mark and was cold and largely hostile, but still, it made its way to headlines in the New York times and was awarded a Tony Award for Best Play. It is considered a central work canon of American Drama. The crucible essay is incomplete without mentioning Arthur Miller’s allegory for McCarthyism.
Book Summary:
The play consists of four acts; easy about the Crucible starts with the playset in Salem, Massachusetts, back in 1692. The first act starts with Reverend Paris finding out his daughter Betty, his niece Abigail and their black servant Tituba enjoy dancing without clothes in the woods when Betty suddenly passes out.
The cause behind Betty passing out remains a mystery. Meanwhile, Abigail suggests and asks all the girls to deny their involvement in their act of cursing Elizabeth Proctor. Later it was revealed that Abigail had an affair with John Proctor, and that’s why she wanted to curse Elizabeth.
The third act begins with Reverend Hale investigating the matter, and as the story moves forward, Tituba, the enslaved person, breaks down, claiming involvement in Devil’s work behind them. All girls, including Abigail, Tituba, and Betty, accuse other girls of witchcraft. They are also accused of it, while John Proctor tries to expose Abigail by mentioning his relationship with her but fails to do so.
John’s Proctor gets executed in the last act after his servant Mary testifies against him. However, Reverend Hale believes that John is innocent. Still a dignified man, John doesn’t ask for any confession and considers it against his dignity. Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John’s child, gets a pardon.
The Crucible Quotes:
These crucible quotes can help you with naming the crucible essay topics.
⮚ John Proctor: “Peace. It is providence and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now.”
⮚ John Proctor: “We vote by name in this society, not by acreage.”
⮚ Reverend Hale: “Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.”
⮚ Authority: “Perhaps because there are those who believe that authority is all of a piece and that challenge it anywhere is to threaten it everywhere.”
Essay Structure on the Crucible:
You have a clear picture of the Crucible, its storyline, the basic theme, its characters, and what the writers want to show to the audience and readers once you understand that crafting an effective essay is easy by following the guidelines.
The first step and recommendation for writing a good paper are to outline; the outline helps you cover all the corners of Abigail Williams The Crucible essay and helps you create a well-balanced academic paper. Below are some points that help make a good outline for your essay.
Introductions:
The crucible essay introduction is the most impactful part of your essay. It determines and keeps the audience’s interest intact in your essay. It is also considered the crucial part where you need to use hook statements and a blend of facts and statements relevant to your topic. In the end, your thesis statement validates your essay’s authenticity. Here is the breakdown of your essay’s introduction:
- The introduction’s first statement or phrase needs attention-grabbing and compels the reader to continue. The phrase must be relevant to the topic, it can be a quote, fact, or any lesson learned.
- Once you succeed in hooking the reader’s attention, try to engage and keep the reader interested by using relevant information, stating some important facts, explaining the points you want to make, and proceeding further.
- The thesis statement comes at the last of the introduction, where you explain and mention the key points and things you want to explain in the essay or glimpse of things you are about to explain.
Body:
The body of your essays for the Crucible includes all the main points and their explanation. You can explain in detail, quote facts, and support your point of view. Make sure to remain relevant to the topic and start writing after proper research. Your essay structure must be balanced, and the transition between paragraphs must be smooth and relatable.
Conclusion:
The conclusion starts with your thesis statement, which revises the topic and what you are trying to explain. After quoting it state your findings and your answer to the riddle, you want to solve. It must be concise and relevant, leave the audience and readers with answers to the question, and compels them to share their thoughts and fear in the crucible essay.
Tips to Consider while Writing an Essay about The Crucible:
Writing an argumentative essay on the Crucible needs proper research and full knowledge of the book. It’s not an easy job to draft compelling academic writing. Here are some tips that help you draft an effective piece of writing.
Read the Book Thoroughly:
Before starting working and writing an essay about The Crucible, the first step is to read the book thoroughly. It is the most important aspect of crafting a well-balanced, articulated and effective essay. You are aware of every detail; therefore, it helps you make your point and includes any minute detail in your explanation if required.
Find the Compelling Topic:
Everyone has their perspective and point of view to analyze any book. But certain ways help create a compelling topic:
- One way is by starting and finishing your writing and trying to figure out which topic will suit best for your essay; this way, you can easily eliminate topic suggestions that are irrelevant.
- The thesis statement also constitutes the main theme of your essay; it can also contribute to naming a compelling topic for your essay.
- The topic can be short or long, depending on relevancy and proper assessment.
Create the Outline:
Creating an outline for your essay can make your writing process smooth and helps you include all the details, and organizes your thoughts efficiently. It requires research and many brainstorming sessions, but you don’t shift your focus on other thoughts except by sticking to the topic once you outline that. It is recommended to write it on paper, whether sketching your brain, it will save time, and you will end up with clear thoughts and an outline to start your writing.
Write the Thesis Statement:
A thesis statement comprises a sentence or a phrase that contains your opinion-based statement about the meaning of your work; it can be different and varies from person to person according to their lens of seeing things and perceiving them differently.
One of the possible thesis statements for the Crucible can be “The crucible lies in its clear and intelligently analytical exploration of the forces that combine to destroy a community.”
Include a Lesson or Moral:
The first act of the Crucible shows how non-existence and non-logical things can be used to manipulate the use of power and retain one authority. Also, one can use false reporting to accuse someone of committing a thing that doesn’t even exist. In this act, reverend Parris uses witchcraft to regain his authority, and his daughter with his friends manipulates and accuses others of hiding their wrongdoings.
The second act again revolves around the false accusations and how different members of society gather to save their interests and authority. They don’t even hesitate to make the other person fight for their lives, but the truth is quite the opposite. Here Abigail accuses John and Elizabeth of witchcraft only to take revenge and hide their insecurities.
The third act shows that the majority always overrides the minority; in this case, false accusations of a majority override the minority’s truth. John reveals Abigail’s real face, but Abigail’s and others are in the majority; their opinions matter most.
In the last act, John got executed despite being on the right and reverend. Hale also knew that, but he could not do anything due to the community’s beliefs, norms, and supporting falsehood than truth. The innocent got executed, the powerful and majority won despite supporting the wrong narrative.
Conclusion: Proofread your Work
Before finalizing or submitting it, make it public for others to read. Please proofread your essay, check for any errors, and make your essay grammatically sound and structurally well written. Keep it balanced and state facts and quotes that are original and relevant to the topic.
In his play The Crucible, Arthur Miller highlights how power, authority, and the majority can impact decisions and turn the truth into lies. False accusations can destroy the fabric of a good community when supported by the majority.
Use the above guidelines to draft an effective, balanced, grammatically correct, and error-free piece of writing. Your essay must have all the relevant details, statements, and explanations.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Is The Crucible?
It is one of the famous American plays written by Arthur Miler back in 1953. It is the dramatized and fictionalized story of Salem. The theme of the story depicts that State and Church are one. Moreover, the story shows that the religions are pretty strict!
2. Who Is Hale In The Crucible?
Reverend John Hale from the story is a witch hunter. He is the local minister who came to Salem and investigated all the claims of witchcraft. You can also call him the Spiritual Doctor, who used to check the presence of witches.
3. Why Did Arthur Miller Write The Crucible?
McCarthyism was a tense era, and during that time, Arthur Miller got inspired to write about the uncontrolled political and cultural scenario of that time. He was also influenced by Red Scare and, after meeting his close friend, Arthur Miller, decided to write the story.
4. Who Is John Proctor In The Crucible?
John is the leading character of the story. He was a farmer by profession, married to Elizabeth Proctor, and was the father of three sons. John was a very direct person. Everyone respected him because of his behavior.
